Agile development exists to help organizations mitigate the frustrations of unproductive software development processes, rigid project scopes, mismanaged budgets, and unnecessarily long lead times and keep up with evolving customer expectations and market demands over time.
With SAP Agile Methodology, project managers can focus on delivering high-quality working software based on a solid foundation and the development cycle of work, ensuring better business outcomes across the entire organization.
Read on to learn more about Agile methodology for SAP Implementation, how it enables development teams to design and deploy on-premise and cloud-based applications, and where our team of SAP consultants can help.
What is Agile Methodology in SAP?
SAP Agile Methodology involves adapting agile principles and best practices to the specific needs and requirements of organizations and their most critical SAP-related projects, aiming to develop and implement SAP solutions that are more flexible, responsive, and efficient.
Understanding the Core Concepts of SAP Agile Methodology
Some key aspects of SAP Agile implementation methodology include:
- Advanced customization to fit the requirements of SAP projects and systems
- Cross-functional collaboration to ensure SAP solutions meet critical business needs
- Maintain SAP solution documentation in an agile context
- Integration with other SAP solutions to support the entire development lifecycle
- Incremental development to apply agile principles and regular feedback for improvements
Common Challenges of Agile Development for SAP Users
Here are a few common issues related to adopting agile elements in an existing SAP environment:
Change Management
With Agile development for SAP, users can gain greater visibility into changes across their SAP landscape to understand better and manage critical application development tasks. Enhanced visibility into operational change also enables organizations to improve development dependencies, prevent production mismanagement, and improve transport sequences across the organization.
Parallel Development
An agile approach to SAP implementation enables companies to facilitate better change management and parallel development to improve system predictability and reduce risks related to the stability of their functioning baseline system.
Data Governance
Adopting agile development practices encourages rapid change across the SAP landscape, often limiting an organization’s capacity for change and reducing productivity with increased system downtime. However, SAP Agile Methodology enables users to balance speed and governance, allowing for better project preparation and more aligned application development.
Workflow Management
Agile development methodology opposes the pre-established Waterfall method that requires siloed SAP teams to work on projects with high-priority milestones. As companies implement agile methodology, they can improve the productivity of their new and existing systems, increase collaboration across their entire project ecosystem, and achieve business values.
Key Differences Between SAP Agile and Scrum Development
SAP Agile is a flexible SAP implementation framework that can incorporate various agile methodologies for internal and external systems to suit the needs of SAP development projects. Scrum, on the other hand, is a well-defined, rigid implementation methodology that can be applied to a broader range of software development projects outside of the SAP ecosystem.
Here are a few differences between Agile and Scrum methodologies for SAP software development:
Framework vs. Methodology:
- SAP Agile is designed to help organizations manage software development projects, offering a complete set of principles, guidelines, and best practices to enable quicker, more flexible software development.
- Scrum is a well-defined process framework that prescribes roles, events, and artifacts for managing software development projects and can be used within the SAP Agile framework.
Focus on ERP and SAP Ecosystem:
- SAP Agile is specifically designed to support software development within the SAP ecosystem and guide users on integrating SAP development practices with agile principles.
- Scrum is a general-purpose agile methodology that can be applied to various software development projects for SAP and non-SAP systems.
Customization and Flexibility:
- SAP Agile is highly customizable and adaptable to an organization’s needs, allowing companies to leverage various agile methodologies, like Scrum, Kanban, or a hybrid approach.
- Scrum is a more rigid and prescriptive framework with specific roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team), events (Sprint Planning, Daily Standup, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective), and artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment).
SAP Tools and Integration:
- SAP Agile recommends using SAP-specific tools and technologies to support agile development, such as SAP Solution Manager and SAP Cloud ALM.
- Scrum does not prescribe specific tools or technologies and allows teams to choose the collaboration and project management tools that best fit their organizational needs.
Documentation and Artifacts:
- SAP Agile emphasizes the importance of documentation and artifacts specific to SAP projects and provides guidelines for maintaining and updating these artifacts in an agile context.
- Scrum offers its artifacts, like the Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog, but doesn’t include specific documentation requirements unique to SAP projects.
Main Advantages of SAP Agile Development
Here’s a closer look at a few critical advantages of Agile Methodology for SAP development:
Flexibility and Adaptability:
SAP Agile Implementation Methodology allows organizations to adapt their software development processes to changing business needs and requirements, enabling quicker responses to evolving business conditions. It provides the flexibility to incorporate various agile practices and methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban) to suit the specific needs of their SAP ecosystem.
Faster Business Value Delivery:
Agile methodology can deliver incremental value to the business when applied within the context of SAP implementation. By breaking down work into more manageable units and delivering software in shorter iterations, SAP Agile helps organizations realize benefits faster, improving time-to-market and business value for their most critical SAP solutions.
Improved Collaboration:
SAP Agile Methodology emphasizes close collaboration between business stakeholders and development teams, ensuring SAP solutions are aligned with critical business objectives and encouraging cross-functional teamwork across the entire organization.
Continuous Improvement:
Agile methodologies promote a culture of continuous improvement, including regular retrospectives and feedback loops to identify areas of improvement and improve customer satisfaction. This iterative approach increases developmental efficiency and higher quality in SAP projects over time.
How Can We Help?
Whether you need help navigating agile development approaches like SAP Activate Methodology, additional support conducting a comprehensive unit test or system integration test, or just an extra hand getting started on your SAP journey, Surety Systems is here to help.
Our senior-level, US-based SAP consultant team has the knowledge, skills, and experience to deliver high-quality software solutions across your SAP landscape and maximize the value of your most critical business systems. This, paired with their proven track record of success, makes our expert SAP consultants the best fit for any SAP project and drives better outcomes in the future.
Getting Started with Our Team
Interested in learning how Agile Methodology in SAP can drive more efficient software development and improve continuous improvement of your critical SAP solutions? Ready to get started on a project with our team of SAP consultants?
Contact us today!
